I am a pearl wholesaler. I would like to sell to Americans

[salem]

Guess a price tag? Yikes! Are the pearls CFWP?

Let's see, pearls, cloisonne, name-brand...I put my guess at $850.

 

[Valeria101]

Guess a price tag? Yikes! Are the pearls CFWP?

Let's see, pearls, cloisonne, name-brand...I put my guess at $850.

No, fake pearls. And I don't think the findings were cloisonne, just enamelled common metal stamplings.

Make that twice (almost) ...

Can't imagine what the demand might be for the type of object irrespective of brand - I am a bit surprised that pearl set shoes are not more common given the low price for some types of freshwater pearls. There are simple white flip-flops on bridal wear listings, for crying out loud. And they are getting used

 

[salem]

Well, I was going to say $1250, but I thought that was too high. And I still would have been low. Sheesh...for such a price you would think they would at least use real pearls!!

Actually, maybe you just came up with a new market, pearl-trimmed bridal shoes. Even the grooms shoes could be trimmed in dyed cfwp. lol Why do I think this probably exists somewhere already? Although I have to say, a flip flop with a thong of pearls sounds oddly attractive to me, kinda like a necklace for the foot. Especially on a nicely tanned foot. Mine are rather too white.

 

[Raisondetre]

Mine are rather too white.

Meh, just wear dark pearls. Nothing is going to stop NCNs from wearing pearls, shoe or not!

 

[jerin]

Meh, just wear dark pearls. Nothing is going to stop NCNs from wearing pearls, shoe or not!

I must have missed something here - but just what does NCN mean?

 

[Raisondetre]

Nacre-covered nut.

 

[Caitlin]

Is that in the glossary thread? If not-it needs to go there.

 

[Raisondetre]

It is actually. That's how I knew of it.

 

[Valeria101]

Footwear revisited: THIS came up in a NYT add...

 

[Ingykiz]

For that kind of dough, I'd rather have a pearl necklace! or two..

 

[Valeria101]

For that kind of dough, I'd rather have a pearl necklace! or two..

Yeah!

On the other hand... lower grade CFP are so low priced compared to designer shoes, I don't know madness from reason anymore . Bridal Flop-Flops were an oximoron only months ago too. Crazy world !

 

[Caitlin]

I just wanted to give this thread a bump. I have been emailing back and forth with Mandy Yue since she first posted the pictures at the top of the thread.

She is from Zhuji. Though she is a wholesaler and used to selling in large quantities, she is interested in selling to Americans. As a result, she set up a Paypal account on my advice and I ordered 20 strands in purple. They are on the way, with decent freight cost ($8- I think) I have not gotten them yet, but I am looking forward to seeing them. I will report and take pix when they get here.

Anyway, she seems to have real perseverance and dedication to making this an easy buy for me. I have some hopes that this is a contact that will bring Mandy, good prices, and some American buyers together.

Maybe someone visiting Zhuji can meet her. she writes intelligible English, and may even speak it too.

 

[salem]

Hey caitlin, I figured your pearls haven't arrived yet, but I was curious if you still had contact with Mandy? I think more people might like to know further developments with her company, but she seems to have dropped off the face of PG. Just curious, really. Can't wait to hear what you think of them.

 

[Caitlin]

I have been in email contact with Mandy a couple of times a week. I will report when I get the pearls. I am very exited. I ordered 5mm and 6mm- enough to make some purple ropes ......

I will let you know when I get them. I am encouraging her to develop her webpages a bit so we can see her wares and order from there- she is at the heart of the trading business in Zhuji and must have some good contacts.....how could you not?

I see her skills in English as being very helpful in dealing with Americans, both here and in Zhuji......to say the least!

 

[mandyshan]

thank you ,Caitlin .IT's so nice to see your message and you really gave me more help from your mail .Hope you can get the 20 stings of pears earlier .

 

[Caitlin]

I got the 20 strands of purple I ordered- 10 in 5-6mm 10 in 6-7mm. The smaller ones especially have nice strong natural color and are fairly round- a slight tendency to button shapes here and there, but these are just good medium quality CFWP.

I will take some photos when my batteries get charged. I plan on making some ropes.

I think this is Mandy's first sale direct to USA customers. As I said before, I am impressed with how she met each obstacle and overcome it. Now she is poised to make more sales using Paypal, so I suggested she try eBay.

Anyway, I took a chance here, though I didn't spend a lot and it came through. Her prices to me were close to the dealer prices at the G&LW mini-show that is spending the weekend here in Tucson and will return for the big show in Feb. 2008, so I know we both made out well.

She lives in Zhuji, so I hope someone visits her there.

 

[hayley]

Merry x-mas

Merry x-mas

X-mas is coming soon, and lots of businessmen begain to do some festival promotion.
I have a business website called --------- wholesaling Chinese jewelry, like pearl, coral, lampwork, etc. As an Chinese wholesaler, we can supply reasonalble priced and good qualitied products. but I don't know how I can let more foreigners know us.
Any advice will be preciated.
Wish everybodr a merry x-mas and a happy new year !

 

[Caitlin]

HI Hayley
We don't allow ads over here and your post is pretty much an ad, albeit a fairly discreet one. This is a good place to ask pearl questions or answer other peoples' pearl questions. We don't allow advertisements.

It is not a good site for wholesale sales pitches. The merchants here have very high quality Chinese pearls and get them in China. The buyers here are crafts people and consumers. You are competing with eBay- so you may as well join eBay-you'll do far better.

I personally would buy a dozen off -round but very dark purple strands,4-5 mm-- maybe even 2-3 dozen, but I just about drove the last person from China (member Mandyshan) who tried to sell wholesale here, nuts. Here is one of her threads.

She had to set up a Paypal account so I could/would pay her because I wouldn't do any of those bank transfer things- they cost a fortune. Also getting the shipping low enough to compete with eBay took more time and effort for her. It was a lot of work for about 3 dozen strands.

I did get the strands and they were very nice, none was anywhere nearly as dark as in her picture, but they were very pretty with a kind of fisheye look to them- but she went away and never tried to sell here again and I don't blame her. If you want to use Paypal and you have some dark purple, natural colored, undyed freshwater pearls, PM me.

below: Manyshan's pearls in a 60" rope. 5mm. For knotters: That is about 255 knots which took about one TV movie to string and knot up.

 

[Caitlin]

Although none of the strands I received any where near were as saturated as in Mandyshan's pictures above, they are pretty pearls.

Mandy told me she is expecting a baby. She has dropped out on me. I don't think I am worth dealing with for a big Chinese wholesaler.........

 

[Caitlin]

Any advice will be preciated.

Hi Hayley
Just a thought..... I was visiting your website. It will be useless for most Americans as it is in some Chinese language. I don't even have those characters on my computer. All that is in English is the money figure. It is called yens?

Also, you are not a specialist in Pearls- you sell a lot of other stuff too. One way to get American wholesalers interested besides joining eBay is to have a website in English. Ebay will solve that problem too.

All in all, I'd say your post here was a waste of your time, not to mention ours.......there is a chasm separating you from doing business over here........

I took some time to answer your question honestly and sincerely. Good luck.